Hackers Loot $13 Million From Crypto Exchange Gdac

Summary:

• The South Korean crypto exchange suffered an exploit of its hot wallet over the weekend, per an official Monday update from the digital asset trading venue.
• Gdac’s statement confirmed the suspension of deposits and withdrawals after hackers stole about 23% of the platform’s custodial value, worth $13 million.
• The attackers moved Bitcoin, Ether, USDT, and other cryptocurrencies from Gdac’s hot wallet to an unidentified wallet. 

South Korean crypto exchange Gdac lost $13 million in cryptocurrencies from its hot wallet after a hacker transferred the funds to an unidentified wallet on Sunday. The exploit occurred over the weekend and was confirmed on Monday by Gdac CEO Seunghwan Han in a note to users.

Hackers compromised Gdac’s hot wallet on Sunday, Han’s note explained. The attackers then moved $13 million in crypto tokens to another wallet, including 60.8 Bitcoin (BTC), 350 Ether (ETH), $220,000 in Tether USDT, and some 10,000,000 WEMIX coins.

Altogether the stolen tokens amount to around 23% of Gdac’s entire custodial vault. The crypto exchange said they contacted relevant authorities and were working to recover the funds. Gdac suspended deposits and withdrawals in the meantime to protect customer assets, Han’s update to users added.

At around 7 am on Sunday, April 09, 2023, a hack occurred in the Gdac Hot Wallet, and the following amount of assets were transferred to an unidentified wallet. This is approximately 23% of Gdac’s current total custodial assets… Currently, we are doing our best by collaborating with various organizations. 

“it is difficult to confirm the resumption point of deposit and withdrawal as the investigation is currently underway,” the crypto exchange said, indicating that withdrawals may be paused until the issue is resolved or the funds recovered.

Crypto Exchanges And DeFi Protocols Under Siege

Gdac is the latest crypto exchange or business to come under attack from illicit actors. Last year, hackers stole over $100 million in digital assets from crypto exchanges. Decentralized finance protocols also suffered a slew of exploits and lost assets worth hundreds of millions.

The attack on Sky Mavis’ Ronin bridge, the chain dedicated to the web3 game Axie Infinity, remains the largest crypto hack to date. North Korean cyberterrorist group Lazarus allegedly stole over $600 million in crypto from Ronin before funneling some of the stolen funds through the sanctioned crypto mixer, Tornado Cash.